


No Happy Endings

by Jaseish (Kymopoleia)



Category: LoliRock (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Reveal Story, Season 2 spoilers, it's super cheesy okay so cheesy, post princess brenda, the cheesiest of cheese
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 05:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10757961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kymopoleia/pseuds/Jaseish
Summary: Iris has had some stuff weighing on her mind since the fiasco with Brenda. She's stressed and unsure what to do... so she tries to focus and have a coffee date with Nathaniel. It doesn't go so well.





	No Happy Endings

“No Happy Endings.”

The phrase kept playing in her head. Something Praxina had said to her. In that ending, the way things had almost gone… She’d almost lost everything. Aurianna and Talia, Brenda, even Nathaniel, all trapped in crystal and her alone with the twins. Praxina had grinned, her hand and her brothers intertwined even with the medallion floating high above them, and said it.

No happy endings.

What did it even mean to her? She’d never been the biggest on fairy tales and books weren’t her preferred escape either. She’d always just took the days one at a time, no matter how overwhelming they got or how upset she felt. As long as she just calmed down and realized that it was only one day, it’d be alright. But an ending… nothing came after a true ending, happy or otherwise. Maybe that was why it was bothering her so much, because she hadn’t liked the way it’d sounded.

Praxina and Mephisto had been so confident in themselves too. She’d smirked and he’d narrowed his eyes and Iris hadn’t had anyone to back her up when she felt the anger swell up. Even remembering it makes her throat swell up in anger and her fists tighten, no matter what she’s doing.

And Nathaniel… She wants to tell him. Why did the girls even insist that she couldn’t? It was so overwhelming to be unable to tell him, to have to lie to him over and over again and bail on him constantly when for so long he’d been the only person in her life, other than Aunt Ellen, who cared for her. It didn’t seem fair that Talia and Aurianna just got to have that privilege without earning it, got to be the only people she associated with without her permission. Yes, she liked them enough, but in the beginning it had been exhausting.

Iris swallows and runs a hand through her hair, trying to calm down. Nathaniel would be here in a minute with her strawberry lemonade- and cherries, he knew how she liked them- and then she’d be able to unload and talk to him. Well… she wouldn’t be able to. She wasn’t allowed to tell him everything. Her heart swells up in her throat again and tears start to surface. Ugh, worst. Iris waves some air into her face as her cheeks heat up. She didn’t want to be crying in public, she didn’t want to cry in front of anyone. But here she was, crying and starting to panic.

“Iris?”

Oh no.

“Nathaniel!”

He’s standing next to her and she hadn’t even noticed, too self-absorbed in her fears and failures to acknowledge the world around her. 

“What’s wrong?” He presses the lemonade into her hand- a quick glance tells her that there’s six cherries floating in the cup- and brushes her hair out of her face where it’s stuck to her wet cheeks.

“I- I don’t know.” It’s not true, but she still doesn’t know how to say it.

“Why don’t we go somewhere and you tell me? My house is just around the corner, Iris, you know that.” Nathaniel is always so good to her, just thinking about seeing his mom makes a new wave of tears bubble up.

He pulls her in for a hug. “Come on, Iris, we can figure it out together.”

“I…” Iris thought for a moment about everything that could go wrong if she told him the truth. Talia and Auriana yelling at her, the twins using him against her, Nathaniel getting hurt, him being used by Gramorr to hurt her.

No happy endings.

“Okay.” She chokes out, and he starts to lead her there, his fingers gently wrapped around her wrist.

It takes a few minutes for them to get to his doorstep, then a few more for him to grab her favorite blanket (she’d always been one to pick, even at other houses, and maybe the ratty pink comforter was bought just for her when they were kids. Maybe.) and then drag her to his basement. He kicks off his shoes and she does the same, then he pulls her onto the couch and they settle in. Just like they used to.

“Comfortable?” Nate asks, sipping his own tea. He knew the smell of coffee gave her headaches and avoided drinking it with her around. 

Iris nodded and leaned her head against his chest, sighing. He tugs the bow out of her hair, the ponytail falling out, and he sighs too.

“Talk to me.”

She waffles for a few seconds on how to word it. His heart is beating under her ear, her drink heavy in her hand, and his own running through her hair comfortingly. He’s gentle with her, but she doesn’t know how to break it gently to him.

“I’ve been keeping a secret.” She whispers.

His hand pauses. “Oh? What kind of secret?”

“A really big one.” Iris closes her eyes.

There’s a second before he replies. “Is it a romantic thing, a friend thing, a family thing, a lolirock thing, or a you’re in danger and scared thing?”

“Those are a lot of things to pick between when it’s really really big and really complicated.” She points out before sipping the lemonade. Mm, he’d even added some sugar like she liked. Perfect.

He chuckles and squeezes her shoulder. “Well, which ones?”

“A friend thing, a family thing, a home thing, a… a lolirock thing, a magic thing, and an I’m scared thing.” She has to hesitate once, but it makes it out.

“Magic thing?” The raised eyebrows make it to Nathaniel’s tone.

“Yeah.”

“Explain?”

“I’m a magical princess from another planet and we’re fighting this evil- I don’t even know what he actually is but I’ve been calling him a sorcerer in my head because it sounded cool- and apparently my parents are the king and queen of that planet and I’m freaking out because there’s a magic civil war headed by the sorcerer and he overthrew my parents and probably would have killed me but they sent me to Earth and then Aunt Ellen adopted me and Talia and Aurianna are princesses too and were sent to help me but I’m not allowed to tell anyone about it and you almost died and I panicked because I’m- I… I don’t know.”

There’s a firm silence.

Iris sips her lemonade loudly and burrows into the blanket a little. “Nathaniel?”

“Sorry, that’s a lot. Can I take a second?”

Iris nods, and the silence stretches on.

She wonders for a second if she could have worded that better. Well, of course she could’ve, but still. What if she’d… what’s the word… not babbled? Explained it slowly and calmly? Why did she always have to rush.

He squeezes her arm gently and she blinks at him.

“Okay, let me try to repeat what I got out of that.” Nathaniel offers. She nods and he starts. “So you’re a magical princess alien and there’s civil unrest and political drama going on, someone almost Voldemorted you but your parents sent you to earth, we only met because of Aunt Ellen, and Talia and Aurianna made you lie to me about it? And something about me dying?”

“You missed the part about the evil sorcerer. His name is Gramorr.” Iris adds.

“Okay. And what about those weird groupies Lolirock has?”

“The twins?”

“Yeah, them.”

Iris sighs. “They’re Gramorr’s puppets. He… He uses them to torment me and try to kidnap me all the time. And stop me from getting the Oracle gems- those are these little hidden away pieces of my mother’s crown, and every time my necklace glows and I help someone I get one and it goes to the crown. But when it’s fully restored he can steal it, so I don’t know what to do.”

Nathaniel nods, and it’s suddenly very clear that she gave him too much information.

“And this is… All of this is true? Not a dnd campaign or something? He asks gently. “No dice?”

Iris shook her head. “Do you want me to transform?”

“Into what?” His eyebrows furrow.

“My magical form! My hair turns pink and I get a pretty dress and a sword!” Iris does smile at that, despite the tears still on her cheeks. Sue her, she likes swords.

Nathaniel nods slowly. “Okay, transform.”

She stands, shouts “Iris of Ephedia!” and lands lightly on his carpet, the heels of the magic boots digging into the soft fiber.

Nathaniel is, understandably, a bit shocked.

“Oh- that is. Very pink. You weren’t kidding.”

Iris shook her head. “And I wasn’t allowed to tell you!”

He frowns. “Did Aurianna and Talia make you lie about it?”

“Well no, but I definitely wasn’t allowed to tell anyone.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Not even Aunt Ellen.”

He winces and beckons for her to come closer. Iris detransforms and slides back into her space under the comforter.

“Iris, what happens now? And what was that about me dying?”

She pressed her nose into his chest, closing her eyes again. “The… the other day. When we almost had an argument but I had to go, and then we had the lunch date?”

Nate nods.

“Well, that was a magic thing. We did have the argument, I wasn’t able to help the girl, I missed our date, I lost her to the twins, and then you found out about everything and everyone died.”

“I think I would remember dying.” He jokes, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

“No, because I kind of went crazy and I stole the medallion- talia’s sister’s magic trinket, long story- and turned back time. And then what actually happened went down and I aced the test because I’d already taken the long route and failed.” Iris can’t stop the tears this time, silly as it sounds. She’s upset.

“Hey, Iris.” Nate tips her chin up with a finger. “I’m not dead. No one is dead. It’s fine.”

She shook her head. “No it’s not. It’s not because the twins would do it again and Talia probably won’t trust me again and because I barely know what I’m doing and because there’s no happy endings!”

Nathaniel pushed her hair out of her face. “What? Since when do you care about that?”

“I… I don’t. But Praxina said it, and I’m scared.”

“Scared about how things will end?”

“Scared about whether or not I’ll be able to make it.”

“It’s okay to be scared, Iris.” He whispers.

Iris had left the lemonade on the carpet by the couch, so it’s too easy to slide her fingers under his torso and cuddle closer. “No it’s not.”

“Yes it is.” He presses. “And more than that, I’m glad you finally told me.”

“But I’m not allowed to.” She grumbles.

“And you did anyways, and they’re not going to wipe my mind.”

He did have a point…

Iris let her thoughts drift for a second. He was so warm, and the comforter so familiar, that it was hard not to feel safe. But it was still nagging, that stupid phrase.

“No happy endings.” She whispered.

“Iris?”

She glances up at him, all worry and shaken trust.

“There will be a happy ending.” He pushes her hair behind her ear again, curse it for slipping out over and over again, and smiles. “You just have to make it yourself.”

Iris closed her eyes. “You sound like a ‘get well soon’ card.”

“You sound like you need one.”

“Be my ‘get well soon’ card?”

He snorts and she can’t help but giggle back. It didn’t make sense, did it?

“Maybe I don’t want to be your ‘get well soon’ card.” Nathaniel pulls her close and kisses her forehead, snuggling harder. “Maybe I want to be the messenger.”

“But I thought all messengers got shot?”

He rolls his eyes and reaches for the remote to the tv. “Nah. Besides, you don’t actually need a card.”

“No,” Iris squirms up so she can be more comfortable, her curves fitting into his. “I just need you.”

Nate nods once. “I know. Now, want to watch something? You mentioned being an alien- are we talking star wars or star trek here?”

Iris snorted in surprise and tries to reach for the remote. “Noo, cut it out. I’m neither!”

He reaches up and holds the remote where she can’t grab it, laughing at her. “But I need to know! What kind of alien, come on!”

“Nathaniel!”

Maybe this could be a happy ending. So long as she took it one ending at a time, that is.

**Author's Note:**

> ok i know this is cheesy and repetitive towards the end and not the best but!! it's late and it's not been read over and first draft for the win, woo


End file.
